


so let them see you rise

by sodelicate



Series: humans, first and foremost [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Child Abuse, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Discrimination, Established Relationship, Everyone Loves Hinata, Fairies, Fluff and Angst, Heartwarming, Human Experimentation, M/M, Phoenixes, but it's not explicit, do you honestly need context for that, kageyama goes on national tv in sweatpants lmao, oikawa has 'oral power', semi-au, when i say this is 'T' i mean NC-16 not PG-13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 19:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16919358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodelicate/pseuds/sodelicate
Summary: “So, given how much of a surprise Hinata is, it really shouldn't have been so surprising when one day during practice, Hinata spontaneously bursts into flames.”Kageyama learns that Hinata is part-phoenix, thanks to a fiery display by Hinata. After getting over his initial shock, he realises this doesn't really matter, so long as Hinata continues calling for his toss.(Until it does, when Kageyama is suddenly faced by the threat of losing Hinata forever and he can't do anything about it.)





	so let them see you rise

**Author's Note:**

> this one is based on a [tumblr prompt!](https://hqissodelicate.tumblr.com/post/180946847427/if-youre-still-doing-the-song-lyric-things) the prompt was for KageHina with the lyrics: “you got the heart of a phoenix, so let them see you rise”. the song is ['Phoenix' by Olivia Holt.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-x_7ctc-c)
> 
>  
> 
> **trigger warning: mentions of human experimentation and child abuse.**

When Kageyama first met Hinata during their junior high match, the thing that surprised him the most was his natural athleticism, despite having zero volleyball technique. He can run faster and jump higher than his small stature would’ve suggested. Kageyama wouldn’t ever admit it, but he’s secretly impressed. Previously, like other volleyball players (or athletes in general) he believed only tall strong players succeeded on the court.

Hinata Shouyou is an anomaly.

Then Kageyama gets to know Hinata better. He’s friendly, kind, optimistic, charming and cheerful to a fault. If Tsukishima is the moon — cold, distant, impassive —  Hinata is the sun: warm, bright, basking everyone in his glow. Kageyama is (secretly) amazed by this too; shouldn’t it be downright exhausting to always be so bright and warm all the time? He knows he would be drained if he tried doing what Hinata does. But Hinata — he does it so naturally, like it’s instinct or something. Kageyama doesn’t quite understand it, and perhaps that’s what intrigues him the most.

Slowly, he falls in love with Hinata. The feeling is warm like Hinata, bright like Hinata, and surprising, much like Hinata. And what’s more surprising? Hinata actually reciprocates, and quite enthusiastically too.

(The getting-together process wasn’t particularly dramatic, unlike those romance dramas Yachi and, surprisingly, Nishinoya like to watch. All Kageyama said one day, out of the blue, to Hinata was, “I want to toss to you for the rest of my life” and Hinata was all like, “And I’ll hit all your sets for the rest of my life!” And so that’s that. They never explicitly  _said_ they’re boyfriends, but they hug and cuddle and fiercely make out, so Kageyama doesn’t think they  _have_  to say anything.)

So, given how much of a surprise Hinata is, it really shouldn’t have been so surprising when one day during practice, Hinata spontaneously bursts into flames.

  

 

* * *

 

Kageyama blinks once, then within the split second it takes for Hinata to crumble into ash replays the whole scene in his head. Hinata leaping up after calling for the toss; Hinata practically hovering mid-air as he’s about to spike the ball; Hinata suddenly blazing like a literal sun; and Hinata crumbling into greyish-black ash in the present. The first thing that comes to mind is,  _Wait, what if the idiot burned the volleyball?_  The thought that follows is, _Wait, is he coming back? He has to — I need him to toss to and he needs me to toss to him._

Everyone else dissolves into chaos. Yachi screams and passes out, Kiyoko catching her in her trembling arms. Asahi shrieks in a pitch similar to Yachi’s and crouches down on his haunches behind Noya, who steps protectively in front of Asahi, though he himself is slack-jawed with shock. The rest of the second-years take refuge behind Ennoshita, who somehow manages to look equal parts exasperated and horrified. Suga looks like he’s well on his way into going into shock, and Daichi does his best to keep him conscious. Yamaguchi has his hands clamped over his mouth, and even Tsukishima looks shocked.

“What the—” Coach Ukai sounds like he’s biting back a curse. Instead of swearing, he splutters out, “Oi, Teach! Can you—”

“Takeda-sensei is at a staff meeting, Coach,” Kiyoko says weakly while fanning Yachi back to consciousness.

“Goddammit, stupid staff meetings! The kid literally burst into flames! Unless…” Coach Ukai trails off, as if struck by a sudden thought. “No. No way. They’re practically extinct, and the odds of Red being one of them — no, it’s way too low.”

Some of the other guys frown, as if getting what Ukai’s thinking. Kageyama just watches, feeling utterly baffled. Sure, Hinata can do all sorts of wild, should-be-impossible things — but literally combust in flames? Kageyama shakes his head, feeling a headache coming on.

“Oh for god’s sake, what are we supposed to do?” Ukai mutters. “Can someone get an — oh wait, I’m supposed to be the adult here.” He rubs his palms over his face before asking, “So, er, does anyone know a way to contact whoever’s responsible for Hinata? Like his parents or someone?”

Kiyoko — after ensuring Yachi is somewhat conscious and lucid — grabs some official-looking files, flips through them at lightning speed and stops at a particular page with the first-years’ photos on them. She holds out the file to Ukai. “This is Hinata-kun’s mother’s number.”

Ukai pulls out his phone from his back pocket, presumably to call Hinata’s mother, and Kageyama just watches in this strange state of near-stupor. What…  _what_  just — honestly, Kageyama doesn’t even know what the hell’s going on. He came here for some volleyball and now his partner/boyfriend/person is now ash, and he certainly can’t toss to (or make out with) a stupid pile of ash.

“So that’s what happened, Hinata-san.” Ukai pauses, then he exclaims incredulously, “Wait, what do you mean that  _just happens?_  Sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice — but it just…  _what?_ ” Another pause. “Wait, so Hinata is a — okay fine, I promise this stays within the club. Swear it on my career as a coach. … Okay, thank you, Hinata-san. Have a nice evening.”

“What did she say?” Noya demands, looking as though he’s barely holding himself back from pouncing on Coach Ukai.

“Noya, manners,” Daichi chides, though he too seems like he’s dying of curiosity.

“Listen up, guys and ladies,” Ukai says urgently. Everyone nods and gathers in a tight circle around him. (Kageyama pauses to pick up the pile of ashes. He feels like he should hold Hinata in this moment.) “This is serious shi— _stuff_ , okay? You can’t tell anyone, got it?”

“Yes, Coach!”

Ukai glances around, as if trying to catch spies or something, before dropping his voice to an audible whisper. “Okay, so… so this is what Hinata’s mother told me.  _Apparently_ , Hinata’s of phoenix descent.”

“Wait, huh?” Kageyama blurts out. He feels like he’s ascended to new levels of confusion. “Ph- _phoenix?!_  Like, the firebird?”

“Yeah, exactly!” Tanaka exclaims while Tsukishima scoffs, “That’s what you’d think if you just blindly consumed modern pop culture. In old Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Japanese and many other legends, phoenixes were just birds. Birds with magical abilities and a fire-like colour scheme, but essentially just  _birds_. They’re not literally made of fire. The reason why idiots these days think that is because of their arguably vague link to fire — when they sensed they were about to die, they burned themselves in funeral pyres, and from their ashes they could be reborn.  _Actual_ firebirds were of Slavic legends. They too were magic birds, represented as literal living fire or living light. Big difference, but somehow those two got muddled up as one and the same along the line.”

Pretty much everything Tsukishima said flies over Kageyama’s head, but he doesn’t want to give Tsukishima the satisfaction so he settles for glaring at him.

“Yes, thank you, Tsukishima,” Suga quickly interjects before a squabble can break out. “But Hinata isn’t a complete phoenix, right?”

Ukai half-nods, half-shrugs. “I’m guessing so? His mother was being pretty vague — said something about fearing her phone calls were tapped or something — but I got the general idea.”

“But — but if he’s only  _part_ -phoenix, then will he still be reborn? Or are there, like, some special conditions he needs to meet before he can reborn?” Yachi asks shakily. “And what if he didn’t meet those conditions before he caught fire?” 

No one knows how to answer, and she dissolves into distraught sobs. Kiyoko kneels down next to her and pulls her into a hug, while the rest of them are left glancing at each other, unsure of what to do.

“Maybe we wait and see?” Kinoshita suggests.

Kageyama nods. It’s not like he’s going anywhere without Hinata anyway. 

Everyone agrees and they settle on the floor in a looser circle than before (Tsukishima mutters something about a “long wait that may be futile” but sits down anyway). Ukai doesn’t join them. He steps out of the gym for a phone call (and maybe a smoke break). Kageyama gingerly places the pile of Hinata’s ashes in the center and scoots back to his place. As much as he’d like to keep holding Hinata’s ashes — they feel nice and warm — he figures the rest of the team would like to see the ashes too.

“Uno?” Noya suggests, waving a deck of Uno cards. Without anything else to do or the mental energy to continue with training (how can they, when Hinata was the heart of the team?), they agree.

The wait is tortuously long, as measured by the number of times practically everyone gets ‘+4’ cards. Normally, a team game of Uno is borderline violent, what with personalities like Noya, Tanaka and (normally) Hinata playing; but now no one has the heart to really have fun.

“Ugh, can we do something else?” Tanaka bursts out. He fidgets in place like he has ants in his pants.

“Guys,” Daichi says in the tone that suggests no one’s gonna like what he’s about to say, “maybe we should consider that — look, we don’t know the full extent of how much phoenix is in Hinata. We’ve been playing Uno for the past hour and a half — maybe—”

Yachi bursting into tears cuts the captain off. Kiyoko shoots Daichi a dirty look before turning to comfort her. Others’ eyes are beginning to turn red, and Noya starts crying against Asahi’s shoulder. Even Tsukishima, who looks like he had something snarky to say, falls somberly silent.

Kageyama buries his face in his hands, sure that he’s trying to hide something even if he doesn’t know what it is. Daichi’s words ring incessantly in his mind.  _He might not come back. You might not have anyone to toss to, or make out with, but tossing is the bigger concern. Hinata, the idiot, might not come back because he’s an idiot and—_

“Whoa, the coming-back process is always the worst,” an achingly familiar voice says. “It’s so  _bleurgh!_ ”

Kageyama’s head snaps up so fast he almost gets whiplash.

And there he is, standing like some idiot in the center of the circle, rubbing his head and grimacing. He looks exactly as he’s always had: messy reddish-orange hair, honey brown eyes, somewhat scrawny build.

“What the hell — you’re back?!” Kageyama yells. A strange mix of relief, anger and joy surges through him.  _He’s back. My idiot, my spiker, my whatever is back from the ashes, somehow. But all that matters is that he’s back._

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Hinata say sheepishly. “I swear I —  _oomph!_ ”

“SHOUYOUUU!!” Noya wails, piled on top of Hinata with Tanaka on top of him. It’s one crazy dogpile of wild, rambunctious teenaged boys. “What the hell was  _that?_ ”

“That was cool as hell, but don’t scare us like that!” Tanaka adds.

“Sorry, guys,” Hinata says with an apologetic smile. “I’ve been trying to hold back my, er, rebirth for a week now, but it’s not something that likes to be held back. Um, please don’t tell anyone? My mom made me swear on volleyball that I won’t tell anyone, but now that you guys have seen it…”

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Ukai says. Now that Hinata’s back in human form, his face is significantly less pale than before. “I made them take an oath of secrecy when you were still, er, ash.”

Hinata lets out a small, almost imperceptible sigh of relief that Kageyama’s sure only he catches.

“Can you transform into an actual phoenix, Shouyou?” Noya demands eagerly.

Hinata shakes his head, rueful. “No, my actual phoenix ancestor was many generations ago, so my power is a lot weaker than an actual phoenix’s.”

“Wait, phoenix ancestor…” Narita says slowly. “So, that means someone generations ago in your family must have…” He trails off when everyone starts averting their gazes and coughing. “Yeah, I won’t continue that thought.”

Hinata bounces back pretty much immediately from that, though. “I can sprout wings from my back, though!” He scrunches up his face, as if constipated. “But it’s a  _lot_  of effort. And I’m pretty whipped from being reborn and stuff.”

Huh, that’s an odd sentence. Hinata has some of the best stamina Kageyama’s ever seen — so for him to say something is exhausting… damn. Hinata continues to amaze him.

“So the rest of your family can also…?” Yachi asks.

“Nope. Natsu can’t, and neither can my mom, though my grandpa could before his powers faded away ‘cause of age and he passed away. My mom says it’s a really rare thing. Like, it’s that thing where you need, um, what’s that thing she called it?” Hinata fumbles with his hands, as he usually does when he’s scrambling to find the words to describe what he’s thinking of.  “Like, you know the one where you need, like, two of the same small genes to make a big gene or something?”

“A recessive gene?” Suga supplies.

Hinata nods vigorously. “Yeah, that!”

The gym falls silent as they pause to absorb everything that has happened. So, Hinata has phoenix blood. He can burst into flames at any given moment and be reborn afterwards. And he has fucking  _wings_. What is Kageyama living in, a fantasy alternate universe?

“What the hell,” Kageyama splutters. “You — you’re a phoenix. So what else exists? Werewolves? Unicorns? Fairies?”

He doesn’t know why everyone else is looking at him like he’s just declared he’s quitting volleyball or something. Is this another one of those things that everyone but him knows?

“Kageyama…” Daichi says carefully. “You… you  _do_  know that people with the blood of ancient mythical creatures exist, even if they’re extremely rare, right?”

Kageyama frowns. “No, I don’t.”  _Is it something I was supposed to know?_

“Oh, good grief,” Tsukishima scoffs. “We know you’re more clueless than a brick about anything that’s not volleyball — but this is ridiculous new levels of living under a rock.”

Now Kageyama is starting to get pissed off. “Can someone just explain to me what the actual hell is going on? Because I’m really lost right now.”

Suga places a gentle, almost motherly hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure they didn’t mean that in an upsetting way. They didn’t, right?” He sends Tsukishima a particularly pointed look, which he averts his eyes from. “We’re just — surprised. We thought you’d know, ‘cause — well, you once played on the same team as Oikawa, after all.”

“Wait, huh?” Kageyama just keeps rising up the plane of perplexity. “ _Oikawa-san?_  Is he a phoenix too?”

“The Grand King isn’t a phoenix!” Hinata pipes up, sounding offended. “I’m probably the last part-phoenix in Japan,  _and_  one of the last few in the whole world!”

“Well,” Ennoshita says, “the rumours say Oikawa has fairy blood.”

Tanaka snorts with delirious laughter. “Oh, speaking of which — Ennoshita, tell Kageyama what they call his power.”

“Power?” Kageyama echoes. He’s still having difficulty wrapping his mind around  _phoenix, fairy_ and _Oikawa-san_.

Ennoshita’s lips twitch ever so slightly as he replies, “They say he has, er,  _something_  called ‘oral power’.”

“Or-oral power,” Kageyama repeats disbelievingly. He  _definitely_  doesn’t want to think of the implications of an ability like that.

Noya crows with laughter. “Imagine the different situations something like  _that_  could come in useful!”

“Yeah, imagine how interesting things in the sack must be,” Tanaka adds, and the two bros roll on the floor with laughter.

Daichi scolds them for their inappropriate remarks, before turning back to Kageyama. “They say that his power’s the only reason he isn’t in government’s custody. Otherwise…” He shakes his head sadly, clearly not wanting to go on.

“Wait, government’s custody?!” Kageyama chokes out, fear gripping him. Does that mean Hinata…?

“Whoa, you  _seriously_ didn’t know, Bakageyama?” Hinata says incredulously. “There’s, like, a lot of  _grr_ feelings towards people like me, y’know? They don’t like people like me. They call as Mythicals, ‘cause we’re not 100% human. It’s meant as an insult. That’s why my mom didn’t register me as a part-phoenix when I was born, ‘cause she didn’t want the government to take me away. Even now, she’s scared that they’d somehow find out and take me away.” He hugs himself, like he’s trying to comfort himself. Yachi extracts herself from Kiyoko’s hold to gently rest her hand on his forearm, a gesture of sisterly-like care.

_‘People like me.’_

Kageyama doesn’t like how Hinata refers to himself like he’s of a separate species. Okay,  _technically_  he is, what with his phoenix blood and all that. But prior to this whole mess, Kageyama always believed that while in terms of personality he and Hinata couldn’t be any more different, when it came to things like volleyball they were practically one and the same. Hinata’s the only person who truly gets him and can keep up with him — but now, it’s like everything has changed.

“It’s true,” Yamaguchi adds sadly. “A lot of it is ‘cause people are scared of them. They’re called horrible things, like ‘impure’ humans and knock-off legends because they aren’t the ‘real’ thing. It’s a way to control them, to make them less of a ‘threat’. It’s terrible. I’m sorry, Hinata, that this… like, all this hatred — you have to face all that, and I just — I’m so sorry. I wish… I wish things didn’t have to be like that.”

Kageyama finds himself nodding in agreement. Hinata, an impure human? How fucking dare they?

 _If anyone wants to call him that, they’ll have to get through me first,_  he vows.

“Well then,” Ukai says with a clap of his hands. “Glad to see you’re alright, kid. Practice — well, it’s long over, so go home and rest. Especially you, Red.”

“Aww, but I wanna spike some more!” Hinata says. “Pretty please, Coach?”

“Didn’t you just say you were exhausted from rebirth?” Daichi questions with his disapproving-dad frown.

“Too tired to sprout wings, but I still have plenty of energy for volleyball!” Hinata corrects him with a beam.

“Whatever. I’m leaving," Tsukishima mutters. 

“Wait, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi hurries after his best friend’s retreating form.

Ukai pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fine, but don’t overexert yourself.”

Hinata whoops triumphantly. He and Kageyama share a brief look, and they both immediately get one another. Without having to say anything, they race towards the ball cart. They quickly fall into their usual groove as the rest of the club trickles out of the gym with their goodbyes.

This — this is nice. And familiar. After an evening of astounding revelations preceding astounding revelations, Kageyama could really use something routine.

Halfway through their practice, when the gym is empty except for them, Hinata suddenly pauses, turns to Kageyama and asks quietly, all vulnerable and timid, “Does… does this change anything between us?”

Kageyama’s hands linger on the ball as he contemplates this. On one hand, this new revelation of who Hinata is threw him for quite a loop. He’s still trying to fully process it. Is this even something that  _can_  be fully processed? His entire fundamental understanding of the whole world has been flipped over on its head without any preamble, while this was already common knowledge for literally everyone else.

On the other hand… Hinata is still Hinata. Yeah, he has freaking  _phoenix blood_. But at the end of the day, he’s still Hinata, Hinata who will yell for the toss and run to where Kageyama needs him to be and who’s the only one who truly understands Kageyama’s entire person.

“No,” he says simply. “Nothing’s different.”

“Then…” Hinata nibbles his lower lip. “Do you think I’m an impure human?”

Kageyama’s heart practically folds in on itself with how painfully it’s clenching.

 _No, no you’re not,_  he wants to say. Y _ou — there’s no universe where you’d be an impure human. You’re the most human person I know, and you’re incredible._

But he’s never been good at expressing feelings.

So he instead grunts, “I’ll toss to you no matter what. So stop thinking about that shit and let’s continue practising.”

And Hinata, instead of pressing the issue, just smiles and breaks into a run that never fails to take Kageyama’s breath away.

This is what he loves so much about Hinata Shouyou, part-phoenix, and fully human.

 

* * *

 

Kageyama thinks he’s done a decent job at adjusting his worldview to accommodate the fact that, yes, Hinata has phoenix ancestry.

But so many questions still linger. Not so much about Hinata, since he’s already asked Hinata all the questions he has about his mythical lineage. No, this time, his hang-up is about the fact that  _Oikawa Tooru_  has fairy blood. _Fairy. Blood._

Kageyama scours the internet for any information he can get on his former senpai and fairies. But all he’s gotten are gossip sites, especially of girls gushing over his handsome looks, as well as some fandom wikis about fairies that he’s sure wouldn’t necessarily apply to, well, real life — whatever the hell ‘real life’ is supposed to be.

Since the internet is clearly a no-go, he decides to just do things the old-fashioned way.

Which is how he finds himself awkwardly loitering outside Aoba Johsai. Students leaving the campus whisper among themselves and generally give him a wide berth. But why? He’s working on his ‘resting bitch face’, as Suga once told him he possessed during a session of constructive criticism about his social skills; surely he doesn’t look so intimidating now?

Kageyama awkwardly hovers around outside Aoba Johsai. When he conceived the idea to visit Seijoh, he only had in mind what he wanted to do here. He didn’t think of how exactly he’d want to go about carrying out his plan. Just storm through the school until he finds Oikawa? Yeah, that sounds like a good plan, especially since he’s been waiting for half an hour and he still hasn’t shown up yet—

“Kageyama? What are you doing here?”

Kageyama sighs in relief when Iwaizumi Hajime approaches him with a confused but nonetheless friendly expression. “Iwaizumi-senpai. I was, er — I wanted to talk to Oikawa-san. There's… something I wanna ask him.”

“Is it something you’d rather me answer?” Iwaizumi suggests.

Kageyama considers this. Iwaizumi is Oikawa’s best friend, and he’s a great deal nicer to him than Oikawa is. He nods. “If you will.”

“Ask away.”

Kageyama hesitates a little, before awkwardly asking, “So, er, Oikawa-san is part-fairy?”

Maybe it’s because he’s  _just_ gotten used to the fact that he coexists with part-Mythicals, but he expects Iwaizumi to scoff, tell him he’s off his rocker or scold him for pulling a stupid prank on him and wasting his time.

Iwaizumi doesn’t do any of that. He just nods and says, “Yep. He is. What about it?”

“So he has a special power, right? Is it something like, er, ‘oral power’?” Man, that sounds even weirder now that Kageyama has actually said it himself.

Iwaizumi immediately bursts out laughing, much to Kageyama’s shock. This goes on for a few more seconds, and Kageyama’s confusion is compounded with each peal of laughter that passes.

 _Is it really that funny?_  Kageyama wonders. He knows Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai aren’t the most… mature of people, but for Iwaizumi-senpai to laugh about something like this — what  _is_ going on?

“I’m sorry, Kageyama,” Iwaizumi says, wiping away a tear of laughter. “I swear I wasn’t laughing at you or anything. It’s just — it’s been a while since I’ve heard anyone call Oikawa’s power that, that’s all.”

Kageyama’s curiosity is piqued. “Really? Then what are they calling it now?”

Iwaizumi seems to hesitate for a split second, before he says, “Maybe it would be easier to understand if I explained what it is first.”

Iwaizumi proceeds to explain and describe Oikawa’s fairy ability, complete with mini PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets and charts on his phone to better illustrate what he’s talking about. Honestly, Kageyama could’ve gone without the line chart — statistical analysis has never been his strong suit — but at least he now understands Oikawa’s power.

Kageyama suppresses a shudder at the thought of it. If Oikawa-san’s power is something like  _that_ , what’s to stop him from abusing it? He can imagine numerous ways Oikawa could use a power like that, none of them being particularly pleasant.

But he doesn’t want to say it out loud, to put it into words. He reminds himself that Oikawa-san doesn’t hold any power over him anymore, so if he doesn’t think about it, it won’t affect him.

Instead, he thanks Iwaizumi for illuminating him and takes his leave.

 

* * *

 

Gradually, over time, Kageyama gets used to the fact that Hinata is part-phoenix.

And now that he’s used to it, he can appreciate how freaking cool Hinata’s powers are. (He won’t  _tell_  him that, of course, since that’s not his style, but he quietly admires Hinata when he’s not looking.)

After practice one day, Hinata demonstrates his flying ability for them. Wide, sweeping and majestic wings with the softest, glossiest plumage spread regally open just shy of five feet from the center of his back. They’re strong, powerful and so, so  _beautiful_. When Hinata takes flight, he looks like a halo of holy flames that’s come to bless the gym. Everyone’s jaws hit the ground as Hinata flies several laps around the gym, and they cheer him on, whistling and calling out his name. Hinata is absolutely the most ethereal being any of them has ever seen. Noya and Tanaka even ask him for a ride, to which he joyously acquiesces to. Turns out his strength becomes enhanced when he unfolds his wings, which sucks because he could’ve used that kind of strength for volleyball — but he can’t, because he has to keep it a secret. Hinata is the secret everyone silently agrees to protect with their lives (even Tsukishima).

Another thing Kageyama learns about Hinata is that, just like his pure-blooded phoenix ancestors, he can heal people with his tears.

He learns this when during practice, he slips and falls on some sweat on the floor. Immediately, Hinata bursts into tears, much to Kageyama’s annoyance (he’s never liked criers), and proceeds to dribble his tears all over Kageyama’s bruised knee.

“Dumbass, that’s gross!” Kageyama shouts, trying to shove Hinata aside.

“Stop that!” Hinata replies angrily. “I’m not actually sad over you hurting yourself!”

“Then why the hell are you crying like some dumbass baby?!”

“I’m  _healing_  you! Look at your knee if you don’t believe me!”

Kageyama looks down, determined to prove him wrong, except he finds that the reddish-purple bruise on his knee is rapidly fading away, replaced by his usual skin colour. His cheeks prickle with mortification as he mutters, “… I’ll toss more to you today.”

Hinata beams at him, smugness oozing out of his grin. “Thanks, Yamayama-kun!”

Maybe it’s just a coincidence (yeah, like it is), but with this new insight into Hinata's abilities, the team becomes a little more reckless during training. Noya, already possessing a devil-may-care attitude when it came to throwing himself around on the floor even before the revelation of Hinata’s healing power, dives down to receive balls and skins his forearms on the floor with careless abandon. Similar to his best friend, Tanaka jumps and runs around with a rash hastiness, even spraining his ankle once. Even Asahi seems more bold now with his receives and jumping.

“Oh no, I bruised my finger,” Tsukishima drawls, cradling his hand after landing from blocking Daichi. “Time to bust out the waterworks, bird boy.”

Hinata glares at him and huffs, “It’s not as easy to just start crying whenever you want me to as you think it is!” But he scrunches his face up, like he’s thinking of sad puppies or something, and proceeds to cry on Tsukishima’s injured hand with an expression that’s a study on disgust and contempt. (At least Tsukishima looks like he’s bitten into a sour lemon too.)

“Guys,” Daichi says exasperatedly. “Just ‘cause Hinata has these cool powers doesn’t mean he’s a tool. You still have to take care of yourselves. We can’t always depend on Hinata to always heal our injuries as and when we want him to.”

Daichi’s point gets harshly hammered in when he gets injured during the match against Wakutani South. Kageyama can see how conflicted and pained Hinata is through his expression — he’s always worn his heart on his sleeve. On one hand, he  _can_  very easily heal Daichi now. All he needs to do is think of sad things and cry. But on the other hand, Daichi doesn’t want him to risk himself for his sake. The captain has been supremely strict about everyone keeping Hinata’s identity under wraps.

They win that match for their captain, and on the bus back to school, Kageyama watches Hinata collect his tears on a piece of tissue, which Daichi uses to wipe his bruise away.

It’s a similar story for when Tsukishima gets injured during the match against Shiratorizawa, though Kageyama can tell Hinata is less enthusiastic about healing Tsukishima than he was for Daichi (Kageyama suspects it has something to do with the fact that Tsukishima has now taken to calling Hinata “bird boy”.)

Hinata spends the night at Kageyama’s place after winning the Spring High Preliminaries. His parents are out on some overseas business trip, so they have the whole house to themselves.

Hinata tucks himself against Kageyama’s side on his futon, resting his head on the juncture between Kageyama’s chest and shoulder. When Kageyama glances down at him, he’s struck by how  _small_  Hinata is. His presence and wings are massive, but his actual stature is so slight. And so,  _so_  vulnerable. Maybe it has something to do with the darkness and intimacy of the night, but a surge of protectiveness courses through Kageyama. This is Hinata — his… his person, he supposes. They don’t have a label for what they are to each other — but they don’t  _need_  a label, Kageyama decides. All Kageyama needs to know is that Hinata is here with him, ready to call for the toss and race with him to the gym and buy meat buns with him (and occasionally, intensely make out).

In a rare display of tenderness, he presses a kiss to the top of Hinata’s head.

“Don’t you dare go anywhere,” Kageyama mutters against Hinata’s soft hair. “Don’t go anywhere I can’t find you, or I’m kicking your ass.”

“So possessive, Kageyama-kun,” Hinata teases.

“I’m serious, idiot.”

“Yeah, I know.” Then, with a remarkable 180 flip in tone, Hinata says quietly, “But… I mean, I don’t plan on going anywhere, for sure… but…”

“But what?!”

“It’s never happened before, but my mom says it’s a possibility,” Hinata says in a hushed tone, like he’s speaking at a cemetery. “I might — listen, when I first rebirthed in front of the team, I was lucky to have kept my memories. I’ve been very lucky for the past times I’ve rebirthed, as I’ve always kept my memories. But, one day, I’m scared — what if I  _don’t_  remember? What if I’m reborn, and I don’t remember anything —  I don’t remember my family, my friends, the team, what meat buns taste like, or you. I’m scared that no matter how many times you guys try to prompt me, I just… won’t. I don’t want to forget. Everyone’s been so nice to me, and meat buns are really nice; I don’t wanna forget any of that.”

Even the passing idea of Hinata forgetting everything and everyone — forgetting  _him_  — hurts Kageyama too much to think about. Instead, he firmly wraps his arms around Hinata and brings him into a fierce kiss.

“I’ll make sure you remember,” Kageyama vows with equal ferocity. “I don’t care if you can’t — I  _will_  make you remember.”

“So fierce,” Hinata murmurs, but there’s a smile in his voice — a smile of understanding when a promise has been made — and that’s enough for Kageyama.

 

* * *

 

 

He should’ve known. Kageyama should’ve known of his own weakness, his own fallibility as an ordinary human boy — because not long after that, everything goes to hell, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it.

 

* * *

 

The entire team has taken refuge in the Tanaka household. Kageyama shakily empties Hinata’s ashes from the sports bottle onto the floor of Tanaka’s room. Saeko is on guard duty downstairs (she specifically asked them  _not_ to give her details of what happened or why they have a whole bunch of ash and one missing teammate), in case the authorities decide to swing by.

It happened when the team decided to get meat buns together after practice — captain’s treat. So there they were, walking down the street and eating their meat buns while bantering as they usually do, when Hinata suddenly doubled over, whispered something that sounded vaguely like a warning, before promptly bursting into flames.

Hinata’s spontaneous rebirths usually weren’t a problem. Usually, they just swept his ashes together in a neat pile in a spacious place, then continued practising or played card games while waiting for him to return.

Except, those happened in the sanctuary of the Karasuno gym.

There, they were out there in public, with passersby walking past them and thus witnessing what happened.

It was like all activity on the street paused, and everyone was left gaping at the flaming boy slowly being reduced to ashes.

Then, Kageyama heard someone say, clear as day, “Hello, police? I’d like to report the presence of what seems to be an illegal Mythical…”

Kageyama vaguely heard the asshole give the police their location, but his attention was diverted when Daichi quickly corralled them into action. Kageyama blindly scooped Hinata’s ashes into an empty sports bottle Suga had, while the others formed a protective circle around him and Hinata’s ashes like a guard of honour. Kageyama tucked the bottle under his jacket and followed Tanaka as he led them in a furious, panicked march back to his place. They had to split up and pass the bottle between themselves, as per Tsukishima’s suggestion (his “I-couldn’t-give-a-damn” voice sounded horribly faked), to make sure that any potential pursuers couldn’t find Hinata.

And now, here they are in Tanaka’s bedroom. Noya has spread himself out on Tanaka’s bed, Tanaka sits at the edge, his spine ramrod stiff. Narita and Kinoshita busy themselves by pushing Hinata’s ashes closer together on the floor to form a small mountain. Suga and Yamaguchi emerge with snacks and drinks they pilfered from the kitchen. Ennoshita and Daichi are discussing something — maybe contingency plans — in low voices, poring over Saeko’s laptop and some scribbled notes. Asahi, with shaky hands, helps Suga and Yamaguchi distribute the snacks. Yachi draws something in her sketchbook — a habit Kageyama realises is her way of dealing with stress — and Kiyoko quietly watches her, worry etched in her face. Tsukishima has his headphones on and is asleep against the wall. Kageyama sits at the foot of the bed, feeling antsy and impatient. He wants to be doing something, anything, instead of just waiting for the seconds to tick by and bring them all to inevitable doom.

“Shouldn’t Shouyou have reborn by now?” Noya asks in a whine. “It’s been, what, twelve hours?”

(Kageyama blinks in surprise. Damn, has so much time really passed? No wonder it feels like each minute that’s gone by without Hinata feels like it’s been chipping away at his mental endurance like tiny knives.)

“Give him time, Noya,” Suga says, his voice tight with worry. “The amount of time he’s taken to reborn during each rebirth has varied greatly, from five minutes to three hours, so we should just be patient.”

“Besides, we should hope he doesn’t reborn soon,” Ennoshita adds darkly. “If he remains as ash, then they can’t take him away since there’s no concrete proof that the pile of ash is Hinata. It could just be a pile of random ash.”

“That would be a lot of random ash, Ennoshita-san,” Tsukishima points out. (Wasn’t he asleep?)

“Then we should scatter his ashes!” Noya suggests.

“And what if he has difficulty with his rebirth if his ashes are all over the place?” Kinoshita counters. “He could have an incomplete rebirth, and I don’t like this mental image of an incomplete Hinata.”

Kageyama doesn’t like it either.

Daichi sighs wearily. “Let’s just touch wood, okay? The police might not even—”

Two sharp knocks on the door cut Daichi off, like a jinx. The whole room instantly falls silent as a grave.

“Well, hello there, Officer-san,” Saeko’s flirtatious voice floats up from downstairs. “What can I do for you boys in blue?”

“So sorry to bother you, Tanaka-san, but we have received an anonymous tip that you’re housing an illegal Mythical,” a lower, rougher voice replies. “Please turn it in, and we won’t bother you anymore.”

“‘It’?” Saeko echoes dubiously. “I don’t know what ‘it’ you’re talking about, Officer-san.”

“Tanaka-san, you should know that it is against the law to lie to the police.”

“It’s not lying if I don’t know what you’re talking about, Officer-san.”

There are sounds of some scuffle downstairs, then Saeko shouting, “Oi, you can’t just barge in like that! Invasion of privacy!”

“We have a search warrant, Tanaka-san,” the officer says, and everyone freezes. “I apologise for barging in your house like this, but it is necessary to ensure the people’s safety, in case there really is an illegal Mythical here.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Saeko exclaims angrily. “Even if there  _was_ a Mythical in my home, it’s not like they would hurt me. They’re harmless people!”

The police ignore Saeko’s furious tirade. Saeko’s ranting is accompanied by the sounds of the sofa being shuffled around, doors being opened and closed, and shelves being pushed aside.

“We need to do something,” Daichi says in a low, urgent voice. “Gather his ashes and escape through the window. Half of us will escape, the other half—”

As if waiting for the literal worst moment to make his comeback, Hinata’s ashes start to glow and coalesce together. Everyone watches with mounting horror as the ashes swirl around like dust motes, joining together to form a human shape — and just like that, Hinata’s back. He blinks rapidly, groans and clutches his head.

“Hinata!” Kageyama whisper-shouts in relief. He thought Hinata would never return.

Hinata groggily turns to him, and the next thing he says freezes Kageyama to the core.

“Who… who are you?”

 

* * *

 

Kageyama sits there, feeling like someone has stolen all the wind in him, while the others interrogate Hinata in the lowest of whispers.

“Hinata-kun, you don't remember?” Yachi asks, gently touching his hand as if trying to prompt his memory. “I helped you and Kageyama-kun study for your tests because you wanted to go for that Tokyo training camp.”

Hinata shakes his head. “It’s… foggy. I'm sorry, but I… I just can't.” He sounds horribly anguished, mirroring exactly what Kageyama is feeling right now.

“Or me?” Noya cuts in. “Shouyou, I taught you how to do cool receives, remember?”

Hinata tilts his head. “Receives?”

Kageyama’s heart drops even lower. “You don't — volleyball. Hinata, volleyball. You — you and I, we play volley—”

The door suddenly and brutally slams open, and three middle-aged men dressed in blue burst in.

“Small in stature, messy red hair — yeah that's him,” the first officer says, pointing at Hinata. “You, you're a part-phoenix, right?”

Hinata nods. “Yeah, that's the only thing I remember.”

The officers exchange looks, like they're switching tactics, before the first officer says, “Then you have to come with us. These people — they're not good. They’ll hurt you. They're dangerous.”

“What the — excuse me?!” Tanaka roars. “ _We_ protected him!  _We_ kept him safe!  _You're_ the ones wanting to hurt—”

“Tanaka, enough,” Daichi hisses, glaring at the police with barely concealed fury.

“They're… dangerous?” Hinata echoes.

“That's right,” the second officer pipes up. “We are the police, and we’re going to take you somewhere safe. We won't let anyone hurt you.”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Hinata says, still sounding disoriented.

“Shouyou, no!” Noya shouts, panicked. “ _They're_  the ones who will hurt you! Do you have any idea what they do to the children they keep in custody? Hardly any of them survive long enough to even become adults—”

“Don't listen to him, he's just trying to frighten you,” the third officer says, patting Hinata’s shoulder. “You’re safe with us, we’ll say that as many times as you want us to. Come, let’s get going.”

“O-okay…”

Karasuno can only watch on helplessly, as their tiny giant gets escorted away by three men in blue.

 

* * *

 

“Oikawa-san! I need your help, please!”

“Tobio-chan?!” Oikawa shouts, taking a few steps back. “What are you doing in my school?! Go away, we’re having practice!”

“Please, it’s really urgent,” Kageyama pleads. “ _Please_ , Oikawa-san.”

“C’mon, just humour him, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi says.

“Well then, you know my price, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa sings. “If you want my gracious help—”

Kageyama, ignoring the strange looks he's getting from the rest of the Aoba Johsai team, flings himself to the floor in a perfect dogeza pose. He lowers his head all the way to the ground and begs, “Please, I would do anything. It’s — Hinata. Hinata is in danger, and I can't do anything to save him. But Oikawa-san can.  _Please_.”

Something in Oikawa’s voice shifts as he orders, “Get up, Tobio-chan, and start from the beginning.”

Kageyama scrambles to his feet, dusts himself off, and does as he's told.

Oikawa’s expression is dark and stormy, like a thunderstorm at midnight, when Kageyama finishes his account. “I see. That is quite the situation your chibi-chan has gotten into.”

“Please, Oikawa-san,” Kageyama repeats, starting to tire of begging. But what choice does he have, if he wants to see Hinata again? “Your powers — you can convince the police to release Hinata, and they’d  _have_  to listen to you, right?”

A brief scowl crosses Oikawa’s face. “Where’d you hear that from?”

“Iwaizumi-senpai told me.”

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa cries out, outraged and temporarily derailed from the more pressing matter at hand.

Iwaizumi half-shrugs. “He asked. And it’s not really a secret anyway.”

“Hmph, fair enough. Now then.” Oikawa turns his attention back to Kageyama. “You're right, I  _could_  do all that. But I have a far better idea, something I should’ve done a long time ago.”

“Huh? What—”

“No time to explain! I have to plan! Tobio-chan, give me your number. When I'm done planning, I’ll text you the details, got it? Now give me your number.”

Dazed by the whirlwind that is Oikawa, Kageyama lets his fingers key his number into Oikawa’s phone.

“Um, how long will this plan take?” Kageyama asks, slightly apprehensive of the answer. He knows what Oikawa can be like when he's busy scheming.

“You're gonna have to wait a few days,” Oikawa says bluntly.

“What — _days?!_  But Hinata doesn't  _have_ days! The government could’ve killed him by now, and you want to take your own sweet time planning?!”

Oikawa spears him with a dark look. “Oh no, Tobio-chan, they won't  _kill_  him. Anyway, I’m gonna have to liaise with many people if you want your chibi-chan back safe and sound. It’s quite a large-scale plan — unless, of course, you want to storm into the government stronghold and rescue him by yourself. By all means, go ahead if you like the idea of jail so much.”

Kageyama doesn't like this. He doesn't want to have to  _wait_  to see Hinata again. Being without Hinata and not knowing where he is or if he's even okay — it gnaws at him. He can barely eat, sleep or toss properly with how worried he is. He wants to get rid of this incessant pain, this utter feeling of uselessness, and just be able to toss to Hinata again.

But Oikawa-san — Kageyama grudgingly recognises that his senpai is superior to him in many areas, and this is another one of those areas. Reluctantly, he agrees to Oikawa’s terms.

“Good, I'm glad you've come to your senses,” Oikawa says approvingly. “Now, about my payment. Get back down into dogeza, I still need the photo. Hell, maybe I should even make an album, considering what a massive favour I'm doing for you.”

 

* * *

 

Kageyama receives Oikawa’s text two days later, and he forwards it to the rest of Karasuno as he's instructed. He puts on his Karasuno jacket, a pair of sweats and heads out to the designated meeting point.

When he spots the crowd gathered there and the  _helicopters_  (why are there helicopters?!), the first thing he thinks is, _Whoa. That's a lot of people Oikawa-san has liaised with._

All the Miyagi teams Karasuno has played are here: Aoba Johsai, Tokonami, Dateko, Johzenji,  Ougiminami, Kakugawa, Wakutani South and Shiratorizawa. All of them were asked to come by Oikawa, and all of them responded.

“You better have called us all here for a good reason, Oikawa-san,” Futakuchi, captain of Dateko, grumbles. “Some of us have tournaments next year to train for.”

“Allow him to talk, Futakuchi-kun,” Ushijima says somberly. “Oikawa would not gather us all here without a good reason.”

Oikawa glares at Ushijima, before turning to address the crowd of volleyball players. “We’re all here today for Karasuno’s Number Ten. Long story short, he's part-phoenix and has recently been discovered by the government ‘cause he wasn't registered, blah blah blah. The important thing is that the government is going to do some fucked-up shit to him, and there goes the opponent all of you want to beat in the next tournament. You don't want to lose him before you get to crush him, do you?”

Kageyama is impressed by Oikawa. He doesn't seem to be using his power, yet everyone listens to him. They murmur among themselves and nod. Kageyama doesn't particularly care that most of their motivation is to beat Hinata in volleyball; he's just grateful that they’re going to help him get his Hinata back.

(He has to wonder, though — what are all of them going to do? Sure, their numbers are staggering, but still. They're just high-schoolers. What can  _they_  do against some high-ranking government adults?)

Oikawa gives them a brief overview of his plan, and soon they're piling into the squadron of helicopters (seriously, how  _loaded_  is Oikawa-san?). Kageyama just barely manages to put on his safety belt before the helicopter takes flight, taking them to Tokyo.

What feels both like a second and also twenty hours later, they finally land in Tokyo. Feeling mildly airsick, Kageyama staggers out of the helicopter and grabs the nearest shoulder to steady himself.

“Whoa, you okay there, dude?”

Kageyama looks up — and, wow. Oikawa really wasn't kidding when he said he had a  _lot_  of people to liaise with. In addition to Karasuno and all the Miyagi schools Karasuno’s played against, the entire Fukurodani Academy Group is gathered here.

For Hinata. Every single person here is here for  _Hinata_. If Kageyama was someone who showed his feelings more openly, he might’ve cried here and now.

“Yeah, I'm good, Kuroo-san,” Kageyama says weakly.

“Good,” Nekoma’s captain says with a grin. “Can't have you being all sick right before we bust your boyfriend out.”

Kageyama’s face heats up by a billion degrees. “We — we never said we were, exactly—”

“They took Hinata away, AKGHASHEE!” Bokuto, highly mature captain of Fukurodani, exclaims indignantly. “They took my disciple away! Oh man, I can't wait till this Oikawa dude brings us to storm the government, ‘cause I wanna throw down with some government bastards right now!” He flexes his admittedly impressive biceps for emphasis.

“Bokuto-san, we’re not going to be ‘throwing down’ with anyone,” Akaashi says, exasperated. “I believe Oikawa-san’s plan is rather different from what you have in mind.”

“Well, I'm gonna throw down with the government on my own, then!”

“Bokuto-san, no.”

“Alright, listen up!” Oikawa bellows into his megaphone. The feedback makes Kageyama wince. “Follow me! Stick together, kids — hold hands if you have to. And let’s go fight for Chibi-chan’s humanity! For Chibi-chan, who we’ll all crush in the next tournament!”

A battle cry of “FOR CHIBI-CHAN, WHO WE’LL ALL CRUSH IN THE NEXT TOURNAMENT!” rings out — except for Karasuno, who instead yell, “KARASUNO, FIGHT!” — and then the motley crew of volleyball players storm down the streets of Tokyo. (Kageyama hears Kuroo-san mutter something about not needing a tour guide in his own city.)

They march right into one of those TV-broadcasting studio places with a burning vengeance. The guards rise from their posts to try and stop them, but Oikawa’s mouth glows silver — Kageyama swears that even Oikawa’s  _tongue_ is silver — and he orders them to let them in. As if entranced, the guards nod dazedly and slump back to their posts.

(“Oh, so  _that's_  what his ‘oral power’ is,” Noya says, nodding to Tanaka.

“Shame, I thought it’d be the thing we thought it was,” Tanaka snickers.)

Oikawa, preceding the group, leads them through the cool, sleek hallways of the studio. Kageyama doesn't dwell on the fancy-looking rooms he passes by, all decked out with expensive-looking machines and gigantic screens — all that's on his mind is Hinata. They're going to get Hinata back.  _He's_ going to get Hinata back.

Oikawa practically kicks a door down, and he sweeps in like he owns the place. He snaps his fingers and commands, with his mouth glowing silver again, “Get out of here. What we have to say is more important than the weather or which country is at a trade war with which country.  _Get. Out._ ”

Once again, Kageyama watches in amazement as the crew inside mechanically get up from their places and shuffle out of the studio with their eyes glazed over. Really, what  _is_  stopping Oikawa from utterly abusing a power as incredible and fearsome as this?

“Okay, that was cool and all,” Kuroo says. “But do you know how to operate a studio? ‘Cause I sure as hell don't.”

“I do,” Ennoshita pipes up. When he notices the stares from everyone who isn't from Karasuno, his cheeks colour faintly. “I’m aspiring to be a movie director. Of course I would've done my research on how to operate a film studio.”

He walks over to the cameras, fiddles around with them, then to the machines with hundreds of tiny buttons on them and fiddles around with them too. Kageyama has zero clue what he's doing, but it looks impressive.

“Alright, we’re ready to go on air,” Ennoshita announces behind one of the big cameras, shooting a thumbs-up. He even has the big broadcasting headset on. He’s the spitting image of a professional director.

“Looks like it’s my time to shine.” Oikawa checks his reflection in a handheld mirror (a power that makes his entire mouth glow silver, helicopters, a megaphone, busting into a Tokyo studio and now a handheld mirror — how  _extra_  is this guy?) and preens his hair. With a satisfied smile, he bounds in front of the cameras, throwing up his trademark peace sign and a wink.

(Maybe it’s the trick of the light, but Kageyama is pretty sure he sees Oikawa’s brown eyes glow silver briefly.)

Ennoshita flashes the “3, 2, 1” countdown silently behind the camera, and that's when Oikawa begins.

“Hello, kind citizens of Japan. You might’ve heard of me: I was the part-fairy Mythical whom the government infamously didn't take into custody some eighteen years ago because of my power. My power allows me to force people to listen to and obey my every word. Let me demonstrate for you — this is what I look like when I'm using my power.” Effortlessly, Oikawa’s mouth lights up a bright silver, and he grins a grin sharp as a knife. As if he rehearsed this, Iwaizumi joins Oikawa in front of the camera. “Iwa-chan, clap your hands,” Oikawa commands.

Iwaizumi’s eyes instantly go glassy, and like he's a marionette with his strings being pulled, he claps his hands thrice.

Oikawa’s mouth stops glowing, and focus returns to Iwaizumi’s face. He blinks twice, looking around.

“Thank you, Iwa-chan, for participating in this demonstration.” With a clap on his back, Oikawa shoo’s Iwaizumi off the set. “And this—” He points at his now-normal looking mouth. “—is what I look like when I'm  _not_  using it. I'm here today — not as Oikawa Tooru the part-fairy Mythical, but as a fellow human — to tell you why this discrimination against people with mythical blood is ridiculous, and why Hinata Shouyou — part-phoenix and 100% human — should be freed.”

Oikawa proceeds to explain the whole story of Hinata being a part-phoenix and how he was rudely accosted by the police just days ago. Even though Oikawa isn't using his powers, his words sound so powerful and compelling Kageyama finds himself wanting to do his every bidding. (Granted, he  _is_  biased as he's fighting for the same thing as Oikawa, but still.) Oikawa truly is superior to him; Kageyama knows  _he_  would never be able to pull off what Oikawa is so effortlessly doing. 

“So you might be thinking: so what?” Oikawa continues. “So what if this chibi-chan is locked up somewhere in some government prison? Let me show you why. When seeing the photos and watching the videos that are about to appear onscreen, I want you to imagine that someone you love is in a situation like those. Just a warning, these images are disturbing and may not be appropriate for children and the faint-hearted to see.” He makes brief eye contact with Ennoshita, who nods and presses several buttons.

On the monitor above Oikawa’s head, several images pop up — and Kageyama wants to to throw up. The faces of the children are blurred out, but the story is clear. Bruises, cuts and what look like  _burn scars_  riddle their bodies. And their bodies, good lord, their  _bodies_. Kageyama can't believe he ever thought Hinata was scrawny. These children look like their skin’s barely holding on to what little bones they have. Their eyes are empty and hollow, like they've witnessed a lifetime of suffering and never seen a way out.

Ennoshita presses another button, and a series of new images pop up on screen.

The first is of a sterile white lab, with a pale and terribly malnourished child no older than Hinata’s sister strapped to a medical bed. Several adults in disgustingly clean doctor scrubs and blue surgical masks loom over her, holding scalpels, syringes and other ominous-looking tools. Kageyama’s fists clench so tightly the nails dig painfully into his palms.

Ennoshita presses another button. The image turns into a video — the contents of the video will haunt Kageyama in his dreams for the next month at least. Halfway, he squeezes his eyes shut, unable to watch the inhumane torture anymore. But he can't shut his ears, so he’s forced to listen to the anguished screams of the little girl whose only sin is that she wasn’t born with 100% human DNA.

More images and videos flash on screen. Children being experimented on. Children being beaten when they disobeyed or, worse, simply didn't yield the results the adults wanted. Children being shackled to walls in pitifully-tiny cells. Children crying for their families, crying for food, crying for the pain to just  _end_.

Kageyama hears some sobbing behind him — Suga, Yachi, Yamamoto from Nekoma and Kindaichi, among many others. He — he doesn't know what he's feeling. Or maybe he's just feeling too many things that he doesn't have the emotional self-awareness to identify. All that's going through his mind is,  _They did all that to kids who are like Hinata. What if they’re doing that to Hinata?_

Kageyama wishes Oikawa would just hurry up and get to his point already. They really don’t have any time to lose.

“This is what the government has been and is still doing to the children they're keeping in their custody,” Oikawa says, his voice slightly choked up. “I know some — maybe even a lot — of you are thinking: so what? They're Mythicals. They're not humans.

“But that's where you are wrong, so gravely wrong. If Hinata Shouyou wasn't a human, he would be a full-on bird. But as you can see in this image here—” An image of Hinata leaping in the air to spike a volleyball pops up on screen. “—he is human. If you want to get technical, the legal definition of  _‘Mythical’_  is  _a being that has both human and mythical-creature ancestry_. Don't you see the ‘human’ part of that? Human, that's what Hinata Shouyou is, and that's what all of us ‘Mythicals’ are. We’re human — just like all of you watching this — just with slightly different genes in our DNA. Before our ancestry, before our powers, before our labels, we are all humans, first and foremost.

“‘But you're dangerous! You have all these powers, and we don't — how can we be sure you're not a threat?’ That's what the government’s been feeding you, but how true is that? Can any of you  _honestly_  say that you've been hurt by a Mythical before?” Oikawa arches an eyebrow, like he knows no one in his audience can. “That's right. And why is that so? It’s because the government  _says_  we’re threats, but they don't have the proof to back up those claims. You can scour the legal database; you won't see anything about a Mythical hurting a full-blooded human. If there was, it would have definitely made headlines.

“On the other hand, I’ve just shown you the irrefutable proof that the government is mistreating Mythical  _children_. They beat, experiment on, psychologically destroy and abuse these children. The government claims they're a threat, yet  _they're_  the ones perpetrating the harm here. And these children — they could very well be your loved ones, if they aren't already. Would you want someone you love to go through all that? No? Then why condemn others to the same fate? Why hold so much prejudice against a bunch of harmless  _children?_  And the reason why I specifically say  _children_ is because almost none of them survive until adulthood. Bet that's something for you to think about.

“But that's enough from me,” Oikawa concludes. “You probably think I have an ulterior motive being here and delivering the whole speech, which is a fair assumption to make. So let’s hear what the people  —  the ‘full-blooded’ humans   — who love Hinata Shouyou have to say.”

Oikawa steps away from the cameras, and Suga steps forward with a hard, serious expression on his normally kind-looking face. “If you need any more proof that Hinata is completely harmless, think about his powers. We all know the legends of the phoenix — they have healing powers. Hinata can actually heal people with his tears, and he has done so  for our team on many occasions. Don't you think it’s cruel and unfair to torture and discriminate against someone who can and wants to heal others?”

One by one, the entire party of volleyball players make their stand against the government and for Hinata — for all Mythicals — in front of the whole country.

Kozume half-hides behind Kuroo when it’s his turn to speak, but his eyes are blazing with a ferocity Kageyama would never have guessed  _Kozume_ of all people would possess.

“Shouyou is a good friend,” Kozume tells the cameras firmly. “Not many people want to be friends with someone like me — shy, introverted, would rather play my games than socialise — but he did. He befriended me so effortlessly, and so genuinely too. If you insist on keeping him locked up, then you're depriving the world of a wonderful friend.”

“I want him back!” Bokuto yells at the government. “Give me back my little disciple, or I swear I’ll throw down with you! Come at me, you bastards!”

“Bokuto-san, please,” Akaashi says. He spears the camera with a cold look as he delivers his own speech about discrimination, why it’s disgusting and why everyone deserves to be treated as human, regardless of their heritage and background.

“I would not wish the fate of those children upon my enemies,” Ushijima solemnly informs the livestream audience.

“He's loud, annoying and a moron with volleyball for brains,” Tsukishima says. “But at least he doesn't stupidly discriminate against people for something as trivial as their DNA. Even he’s not that much of an idiot.”

When it’s Dateko’s turn, Futakuchi drawls, “Y’all fucking nasty. All the kids you have in custody deserve better. Hell, if anything,  _you_ monsters are the ones who deserve that kind of treatment. The ones who dehumanise others are the ones who are inhumane.”

The camera shifts to Aone, who nods in heartfelt agreement.

Finally, after a few more people from Seijoh and Johzenji give their two cents, it’s Kageyama’s turn. But when the camera points at him, he freezes. The  _entire country_  is watching. Hinata’s fate depends on him to get the last word in.

But he's never been good with words. It’s why he sought Oikawa out in the first place, because Oikawa-san’s power  _is_  all about being good with words.

On the screen, another image of Hinata with the caption  _‘HUMANS, FIRST AND FOREMOST’_  underneath it flashes, bright and brilliant.

And Kageyama has found the words.

“Please. Not Hinata. He's the most human person I know, the most human person  _anyone_ would know if they've ever met him. If he's thrown in some government prison for not being ‘human’ enough, then the rest of us should be right there with him. Please — let him go. Let all of them go.”

 

* * *

 

After their media takeover, Oikawa rents out no less than ten villas for all the volleyball teams to crash at while they wait for any response from the government. The Tokyo folks protest, citing the fact that they already have their own homes, but Oikawa insists on keeping everyone together for unity’s sake.

For the next few days, they occupy themselves by holding informal volleyball matches among themselves during the day with the managers keeping track of the points (it feels weird, having the whole Karasuno team and everyone in every team they've met but Hinata there) and mass Uno-poker-blackjack tournaments at night. Oikawa has plenty of loose change to spare (like,  _plenty_ ), so they splurge on pizza, soft drinks and unhealthy snacks.

They're not celebrating, even if it may seem like that. But Bokuto, who was the one who came up with the idea in the first place, said there's no point in moping while waiting for Hinata to return, so they might as well enjoy themselves for a bit. Then when Hinata returns (and he  _will_ ), they’ll have fun with him too.

The captains also make sure to check the news regularly — like, every-hour kind of regularly. So far, there hasn't been anything about Hinata or any of the other captive children specifically, but there has been plenty of protests inspired by their media takeover. People — young people around their age, the oldest being maybe in their 30′s, Kageyama observes — march down the streets. They carry with them posters and huge signboards, as well as the fiercest glares on their faces.

 _‘We Are the Revolution’_ one bright orange signboard reads. When they see it, they cheer, because that's right — they are the revolution. They are the change they want to see, the change that will bring more acceptance and love to Mythicals, as well as stamp out all this pointless discrimination against them.

Finally, on the third day, the government formally announces that they're going to release all the children they've kept in custody. They issue out an apology for their inhumane actions and promise to fully cover the children’s medical treatment for their substantial injuries. They announce that there are still ongoing discussions about changing the law, nothing concrete on the legislative side of things, but this — well, it’s not perfect, but it’s good enough for now. Hinata is out of there, and that's all that matters.

As one giant entity, all hundred or so of them head to where Hinata will be released from. Turns out Hinata was being held in a site in Tokyo; he was so close, yet so far. All the volleyball players gather outside the building with the reporters and other bystanders, waiting with bated breath for Hinata Shouyou to emerge.

And when he does, the sight steals Kageyama’s breath. Hinata is covered in bruises and dried blood, and he's distinctly thinner than when he was taken away by the police.

But he's  _here_. He's not  _there_  anymore; he's here, right in front of Kageyama, and like hell Kageyama is going to let anyone else see him first.

He shoves his way to the front of the crowd, until he's face-to-face with Hinata. Without any need for a greeting, he leans down and captures Hinata’s lips in a desperate kiss. His arms wrap tightly around Hinata’s waist. He holds him tight, afraid that if he loosens his grip Hinata would be taken away again. Hinata lets out a surprised squeak that Kageyama quickly swallows up, before his hands come to cup Kageyama’s face and tug him impossibly closer.

“Dumbass, why are you hurt?” Kageyama growls when he pulls away, incensed. “Can't you heal yourself?”

“I know, right?” Hinata exclaims. “I can heal everyone  _but_  myself! I mean, I don't hate healing others — I like it, actually, I like helping others — but it’s so freaking dumb that I can't heal _myself!_  I swear these powers—”

“Hinata-kun, Hinata-kun!”

Suddenly, they have an entire horde of reporters getting all up in their space. With eager expressions, they shove their microphones and camcorders into Hinata’s startled face.

“Tell us, Hinata-kun, how did you feel when you were being held captive?”

“Did they treat you badly while you were there?”

“Did you miss your friends and family?”

“Leave!” Oikawa, who’s suddenly appeared in front with them, barks. His mouth is glowing silver once again. The pesky reporters hastily back further away, behind the circle of high schoolers, but they still hold on to their microphones and camcorders.

“Shouyou! You remember us?” Noya demands, bounding towards Hinata.

“Yes, Noya-san!” Hinata chirps. “Everything came back completely when Kageyama started talking, but bits and pieces started  _whoosh_ -ing in when everyone was talking! All of you said really nice things, like  _gwah!_ ”

“SHOUYOU!” Noya, sobbing, pounces on Hinata, wrapping him up in a bear hug.

Soon, almost everyone follows suit, until Kageyama and Hinata are caught in the center of a giant group hug/dogpile. There's so much laughter and relieved crying surrounding Kageyama. And maybe, he sheds a single tear of his own. Hinata is back, Hinata isn't going anywhere, how can he  _not_  feel even a little emotional over this?

Fuck it, he is  _extremely_  emotional over this.

He grabs Hinata and tugs him into another kiss, eliciting catcalls from the rowdy teenagers around them.

“Gross, go get a room,” Kuroo drawls from somewhere behind Kozume, who in turn is squashed against Hinata’s side.

“Your hair is gross, Kuroo-san!” Hinata retorts without any real heat.

“Lil disciple!” Bokuto yells over the din. “Heard you could fly?”

Hinata’s face lights up when he hears his mentor’s voice. “Hell yeah I can, Bokuto-senpai!”

“C’mon, what are you waiting for, Chibi-chan?” Oikawa asks. “We went through all this trouble for you — least you could do is give us a little show.”

Hinata’s grin wavers a little as he eyes the wave of reporters behind them. “Um, I’d love to, but… they're watching. Are you sure they won't…?”

Kageyama, moving on instinct, grabs Hinata by the hand and tells him firmly, “Fuck them. Let them see you rise, show them they can't get to you.”

The wide, almost unearthly smile that blooms on Hinata’s face sends powerful shivers down Kageyama’s spine, but in the best way possible. He stares, entranced, as Hinata’s fiery wings unfold and spread out like an angel’s wings behind him, the sun above him like a halo. Cheers go up in the crowd, but all Kageyama can focus on is Hinata — his spiker, his partner, his… Just,  _his_.

He loves Hinata so, so much.

Hinata rises several feet into the air, eliciting more cheers and applause. And then, throwing Kageyama for a loop, he grabs Kageyama by the back of his collar, and they're soaring away from the crowd, away from all the people, away from Tokyo.

He doesn't know where Hinata is taking him, but for once he doesn't feel like arguing.

All that matters is that Hinata is here, and he's  _his_ , and he's not going anywhere where Kageyama can't catch up to him.

They rise, and they keep on rising.

**Author's Note:**

> this one... really blew up. this is the longest one-shot i've ever done. but it was so much fun to write too! i might do an IwaOi companion fic too, to explore Oikawa's ability and possible angst, as well as his relationship with Iwa-chan.
> 
> my requests on [my tumblr](https://hqissodelicate.tumblr.com/) are open, so feel free to drop a request :D
> 
> thanks for reading!


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